An Unforseen Angel
by Raye Lynne
Summary: The English translation of L'Ange Imprévue. A children's Christmas story that bears certain similarities to Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but with some key differences...read and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story that I originally wrote in French. I wanted to do a direct translation, so apologies if the pace is a bit halting.**** I hope you enjoy! The French version is also on the site, too, if you want to compare. Please review; I want to know what you think^^**

**~Chapter 1**

It was winter in the town of **Cœ****ur des Anges. The sky was painted in pale grey, ****and snowflakes were falling from the clouds. The streets were covered in a white blanket, with blue shadows, and golden stripes from the streetlamps. There was no one outside; all were in their homes, because that night was Christmas Eve.**

**All, except for ****one young girl who sat in an alley, shivering, because it was very cold. Her dress and cape were very light, and couldn't keep her warm. The melting snow was absorbed by her shoes and froze her feet.**

**The girl seemed to be covered in gold; the lights shone on her body. Her white skin seemed the colour of a peach, and her pale hair was like liquid gold. It seemed that she was beautiful, but it was only an illusion. If you were to look, you would see that her lips were a little blue, and her eyes, a blend of dark brown and the gold from the light, were full of tears.**

**On the other side of the town, Christmas carollers started to sing. She listened to the music, and two teardrops fell into the snow.**


	2. Chapter 2

**~Chapter 2**

Angelique was going to Étoile du Pays for an enormous Christmas ball. She was travelling in her horse-drawn carriage, listening to the shuffle of hooves through the snow.

"I hate the snow," she sighed to herself. "It's too cold; it's too wet; and it makes too much noise when my horses walk through it!"

Angelique tugged at her fur coat, to make herself warmer. She wore it overtop of a spectacular gown, a gown of dark red silk, with many ribbons and white lace. She had a poinsettia in her long, dark, elegant hair and her eyes were like two blue stars.

She opened the window and called to the driver, "Hurry up! I'm going to be late for the ball if you continue to go so slowly!"

"Yes, Mademoiselle," said the driver.

Three minutes later, she ordered, "Go slower! This road is too bumpy!"

"Yes, Mademoiselle," replied the conductor.

But a minute later, she was commanding him again.

"Go faster, idiot! Do you want for me to be late? Faster; faster!"

"Yes, Mademoiselle," sighed the driver.

Unfortunately, Angelique was always like this. She was mean, egotistical and vain. But, she was Mademoiselle Angelique Helene Marguerite de Tremaine III; she was rich and powerful. Everything she wanted, she got, always.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

"Why have we stopped?" Angelique demanded. "We are not in Étoile du Pays!"

"Sorry, Mademoiselle," said the driver. "But, there is a little girl here; she wants to talk to you."

'No!" said Angelique. "Tell her to leave, now."

Angelique heard the driver repeat that to the girl; then she heard the voice of the girl, but she couldn't hear the words.

The driver relayed to Angelique, "She will not leave until she can talk to you, Mademoiselle."

Angelique sighed in a theatrical fashion.

"Very well. Bring her to the window."

He obeyed, then Angelique was looking at a girl with blonde hair and dirty, ripped clothes.

"What to you want, street-rat?"

The girl curtsied. "Mademoiselle, I am Michaelle. I was hoping you could give me some money, please? I would like to buy a coat for winter, and –"

"I'm not going to give you money!" replied Angelique. "You disgust me. Good-bye, pathetic –"

"Wait!" cried Michaelle. "Mademoiselle…please. It's going to be Christmas tomorrow…"

"So?" Angelique shrugged. "Now, go away!"

Michaelle started to cry. "Please…"

"Go away! Driver, drive!"

"Yes, Mademoisellle," said the driver, sadly.

"Travel through the forest," she commanded a bit later.

"What for, Mademoiselle?"

"Because that route is a shortcut, of course!"

So, the carriage was travelling through the forest, when Angelique felt an enormous jolt, and the carriage stopped. "What happened?" she demanded.

"There are too many bumps in the road," said the driver. "Now, the carriage wheel is broken."

"Oh, no!" said Angelique. "I will certainly be late!"

"But, I can take a horse and search for someone who can help us. Would you like to stay here, Mademoiselle?"

"Of course! It's too cold to ride a horse!

"As you wish," replied the driver. "Soon, I will return."

"Hurry!" she called, but he was already gone.

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A/N: Yes, I am aware that the characters are horribly developed; very flat/stock. Keep in mind this is a children's story. As well, this is directly translated from the French version, and my knowledge of French is limited.


	3. Chapter 3

**~Chapter 3**

**After three hours, the ****driver did not return. The sky was black, and the snow was falling thicker and faster.**

** Angelique shivered. "Where is the driver?" she wondered. She looked out the window, but could only see snow.**

** It would appear she didn't have a choice. She had two horses: the driver had taken one, but she would be able to take the other. Angelique got out of the carriage, and saw immediately that there were no horses there.**

** "He fled, maybe…curses!" said Angelique. "What to do now?"**

** She had to walk, because the carriage was beginning to be covered in snow.**

** Angelique sighed, pulled her coat around herself, and started walking.**

** She could barely see, and it became colder every minute. There were black dead tees that surrounded her. The snow wet her shoes and the hem of her coat. There was no light aside from the moon, large and round in the sky. Her breath made little pale clouds that floated in the air before they dissipated and disappeared forever. And, again, it snowed, and the fat flakes were caught in her hair.**

Angelique walked for a long time, but she never left the forest. She was forced to realize that she was lost.

"Curses!" she said again. "What do I do now?" She thought, then she did something that she could do very well. She started to yell.

"Help!" she cried. "Help me! Someone, come here! Help me!"

She suddenly heard a crack! She turned, but she tripped on the hem of her skirt, and fell. The cold crystals of snow stung her face.

With a groan, Angelique picked herself up and brushed off chunks of snow with her hand.

But – what was that? There was a light in front of her. It was blinding, golden and brilliant. The snow surrounding it seemed to be in flames. Angelique looked into the light. She stared, then she realized what it was, and she gasped.


	4. Chapter 4

~Chapter 4

It was an angel! She seemed young and small, yet she was wearing a sumptuous silver gown that shimmered. And her wings…! They were large, covered in white feathers, and dusted with pale glitter. Her hair fell down her back like a waterfall of spun gold. She looked at Angelique with brown eyes, and she was not smiling.

Angelique gasped again. "It's Michaelle! This is impossible!"

"Good evening, Mademoiselle," said the angel, with a mocking tone.

"Y-you are not real!" Angelique stuttered. "You are a little girl! A vagabond!"

'That was my disguise," the Michaelle-angel explained. "But, you see me now how I am in reality. I had given you a test, and you failed."

"What are you saying?" cried Angelique.

'Do you have a heart?" demanded Michaelle. "I doubt it. If you do, it is made of stone."

"How dare you!" growled Angelique.

"Silence!" commanded the angel. "You have many good things in your life, and yet you abuse them like they are nothing! You do not realize all you have! You think your money makes you better, and everyone else is worthless! You are a wicked, terrible person, and you don't deserve the good things you have. You have used your power to hurt the lives of others, like me. Now, I will punish you."

'What will you do?" said Angelique, who was a little afraid.

'You must stay here, in the forest, in the snow, in the cold, without help, forever," decided the angel.

'No! No, no!" cried Angelique. "Please! Don't abandon me! I'm sorry; I'm very, very sorry!" She started to cry.

'It's too late to be sorry," said the angel solemnly. Then, she paused. "Or, is it? That's for you to decide…"

Angelique blinked. "P-pardon?"

But, the angel smiled mysteriously. She spread her wings, and the pale sparkles that rested upon them floated in the air.

Angelique looked at them for a minute, but, suddenly, she was feeling tired. Then, she fainted.


	5. Chapter 5

**~Chapter 5**

** "Mademoiselle? Mademoiselle? Are you all right?"**

** "I'm – I'm all right," said Angelique, very confused. She saw the driver, who was looking at her with concern.**

** "Mademoiselle! Thank God!" the driver cried. "I found someone who can help us, but when I returned with him, you had disappeared!"**

** Angelique wondered to herself, "Why am I on the ground? …Oh, yes, I fainted, then I fell, after I saw the Michaelle-angel. But…I fell before I saw it, also. Was it all…a dream? A dream that was a warning? If I don't change…that will happen?"**

** Angelique had not always been mean, though she wasn't always nice, exactly…for, when she was a child, her parents died on Christmas Day. Angelique had received an enormous fortune, but she had never been the same person…**

**"If I take care with my actions," she thought, "and how they affect the lives of others, that would be a change, wouldn't it? If I do this, everyone will be happier…myself also, I suppose…if I don't have to stay in the cold!"**

** But, had it been a dream? She would never know…**

** "Mademoiselle? Are you all right?" repeated the driver.**

** "Yes," Angelique replied, but the driver helped her stand up.**

** "Thank you," said Angelique. **

** The driver was very surprised. He had never heard Angelique say "thank you".**

** "I-it's nothing," he replied.**

** They returned to the carriage. It was repaired now, and a man was standing next to it. He was plump, and he had a lot of hair and a white beard. He was dressed in bright red clothes.**

**"Thank you, sir," said Angelique.**

** "It's nothing," the man replied. "I am happy I can help someone."**

** "Do you need a ride to your house?" asked Angelique.**

** "No, thank you," said the man. "I have transportation." He whistled, and a pale brown reindeer walked around the bend. The man climbed onto it and said, "Merry Christmas!"**

** "To you the same!" cried Angelique; then, the man was gone.**

** "Are we going to Étoile du Pays now, Mademoiselle?" asked the driver.**

** "No…I need to go to ****Cœ****ur des Anges, immediately,****" said Angelique. 'And, please…hurry."**

** When they were driving, Angelique thought of Michaelle. "I had no reason to refuse her. I don't know why I did it…"**

** Soon, they had returned to **** des Anges, and Angelique saw the alley, where she had seen Michaelle.**** "Stop, please!" she cried.**

** She got out of the carriage and ran into the alley.**

** "Michaelle!" she called. "Michaelle!"**

** Then, Angelique saw something under the snow. She brushes it away with her hand, until she saw Michaelle, who was unconscious. Her lips and hands were blue, and her breathing was uneven. She was almost dead.**

** Angelique picked up Michaelle and carried her to the carriage.**

** When the driver saw, he gasped, 'Mademoiselle, what is this?"**

** 'I'm going to do something I should have done before now," she replied.**

** They returned to Angelique's château. **

** Later, Angelique was sitting in her bedroom, watching Michaelle. The girl was wearing a nightgown now, and she was under very soft wool blankets. Angelique had lit a fire, and the flames seemed to give the room an orange glow.**

**The driver entered. "All is well?" he asked.**

** "Yes, I think," said Angelique. Suddenly, she asked, "What's your name?"**

** "Huh?" said the driver, very surprised.**

** "You name…I never thought it was important before now, but…"**

** "My name is Luc, Mademoiselle."**

** "Luc." Angelique smiled. "Thank you so much, Luc. You have helped me to save Michaelle's life."**

** "I did only what you commanded me."**

** "Yes…but, I'm afraid I was too late," said Angelique. "If Michaelle dies…"**

** "It's Christmas," said Luc, "the time for miracles. Be optimistic, Mademoiselle. Believe." He smiled. "Good night, Mademoiselle."**

** "Goodnight…Luc."**

** Angelique looked at Michaelle again. Her breathing was even now, and her skin was pink with warmth. The girl seemed so peaceful…Angelique yawned, and closed her eyes…**

**…and opened them. It was morning, and she could see light from the window. It was snowing again, but slowly and gently.**

** Angelique saw Michaelle; the girl was awake, and looking around the room.**

** "Is this a dream?" she whispered. "Or…did I die, and I am in heaven…?"**

** "Merry Christmas, Michaelle," said Angelique.**

** "I know you…you are the one who was so wicked to me…"**

** "Yes. But, I have finished being wicked," replied Angelique.**

** 'I know; I know. You have saved my life, kind stranger."**

** "Oh! Excuse me. My name is Angelique."**

** "Angelique! Like an angel!"**

** "I am not like an angel!"**

** "But, maybe, you are…"**

** "Maybe. A little." Angelique smiled. She thought. "Michaelle… do you have a family?" she asked.**

** "No. I am alone."**

** "Would you like to stay here?"**

"For Christmas?"

"…for a longer time?"

"Not forever!"

"Yes, forever, it you wish!"

"I will have food, clothes, and a house? That's beyond all my dreams!"

'You can have all of these things."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Forever?"

"For as long as you desire," Angelique said.

"Forever," affirmed Michaelle, and they laughed.

Michaelle yawned. 'I'm sleepy again," she said.

"But, this is Christmas! You can't sleep for the entire day!"

'I won't. Angelique…are you sure? That I can stay here?"

"Michaelle, don't worry about me. I've done that too often!"

"Okay," said Michaelle.

"Sweet dreams," said Angelique.

"Angelique…before you leave…I want to tell you…" the girl yawned again. "Thank you."

Then, she was asleep.

Angelique looked at Michaelle, and she whispered, "No, Micahelle…thank _you."_

* * *

**A/N: There you have it! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed; Happy Holidays!**


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